Another New Hotel - Royal Garden
They keep getting bigger and better here. Ya gotta wonder when it’s gonna slow down. By the looks of construction around the country: No time soon.It was Friday evening, and my friend Vicky told me her brother from Toronto was visiting the plant and would like a tour. I was nominated. But she also invited me to go out with a couple of others for dinner. Now ya gotta realize that Friday nights are unusual over here. Half of the Decca Hong Kong staff heads out for home by mid-afternoon. Tony, our VP of Operations, and myself are usually the only senior managers left in Dongguan. Those few of us that are here, often go out for dinner nearby.
On this Friday evening we took off after work around 8 PM – yep we work that late – even on Friday! Soon Tony informed us we were headed to a new hotel in Dalang, a neighboring town from our factory. An industrial town, known for it’s textile factories, it wasn’t much of a town to write home about ……. But the hotel sure is! What a place! Fountains and huge lobbies. Wonderful indoor gardens. Antiquities from Chinese history. And a Japanese restaurant that was fantastic.
Now why the doormen or doorwomen wear kilts was a little unusual. Don’t really think that went with the theme of the hotel. But once you get on inside it is one incredible hotel. A huge lobby of crystal and ornaments is simply amazing. The furniture was a little too modern for my taste, but they seem to like that style here in hotels.
Wandering on past massive water balls, we came to an oasis garden in the middle of the hotel that was truly incredible. Tall bamboo was spread amongst pools of water. Fountains cascaded all around. A tall marble stairway led up to a glass enclosed observation type tower… at least I thought that at the time.
Tony led us on a tour of the ground floor to show off Chinese antiques the owners had invested wisely in preserving. There were wooden carts with wine casks. Tables, benches, and troughs were hundreds of years old. An ornamental gong inspired thoughts of ancient royal announcements.
Making our way back to the garden, we ascended the stairway to our destination of a new Japanese restaurant. To my surprise, that room I thought was an observation tower was our dining area. What a place! A grill of over 10’ long was angled inside and surrounded by about 7-8 chairs. Overlooking the garden was just incredible. My chair along the glass wall looked down the twenty plus feet below to the garden and other dining areas.
Soon Alice, our cook for the evening, came and turned our attention from the view outside our room to her grill. What a marvelous cook, and wonderful food. Sushi, lobster, fish, tempura, steak, miso soup, salad, and even a flaming ice cream and banana dessert. Just spectacular!! We ate like royalty in the fantastic tower. The sake was pretty good too!!
Taking leave for a visit to a nearby washroom, I spied a bright blue light in another room and took a peak. Another fabulous restaurant; this one, Italian. The manager, Tim, quickly gave us a tour and invited us to return.
I know I write too much about food here. But this place, the Royal Garden Hotel, deserves more attention. The steak was some of the best I’ve had in China. The lobster was delicious. We had more attendants than there were members of our group. And the setting was simply spectacular.
Yes, another new hotel. The Royal Garden Hotel in Dalang. They just keep on building newer and better. ………….. My compliments on this one!
More pictures can be found from the link in the right column.
posted by A Bryson (formerly) in China @ 11:36 AM
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